Amendment 64: What does it mean for you, for Colorado?

Voters will decide the state amendment in November

By Jessica Maher Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
10/13/2012 05:47:28 PM MDT

Justin Bartkowski, an employee at Herb's Medicinals, a medical marijuana dispensary in Berthoud, arranges different kinds of medical marijuana recently after moving into the dispensary's new location in the small community.
(
Jenny Sparks
)

Colorado is among three states in November that will attempt a first in United States history -- legalizing marijuana and regulating it in a way that's similar to how alcohol is treated.

Amendment 64 would permit people over 21 years old to consume or posses one ounce or less of marijuana. Retail stores would be allowed under the state law, although local governments would have the authority to regulate or prohibit the facilities.

Saying the amendment would give Colorado the most liberal marijuana laws in the world, Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith has been outspoken about his opposition to Amendment 64.

"Our kids have too much promise and Colorado is a state with too much natural beauty and potential to let it become the pot capital of the world," he said. "It hasn't worked in Amsterdam, it hasn't worked in California and it won't work here. This isn't a partisan issue that divides the state. It's a common sense issue that should unite parents, families and communities to stand up for our future."

Smith has distributed press releases and submitted opinion pieces on the issue but says they were sent in his elected official capacity and are not representative of the sheriff's office as a whole. The cost, he said, has been that of sending emails.

"I'm not expending any office funds," Smith said.

In August, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy estimated that Amendment 64 would produce $60 million in new revenue and savings for the state. But estimates are only that, according to Beau Kilmer, co-director and senior policy research of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.

"Tax revenue is going to be a function of the amount of marijuana that's consumed and also what the tax rate is," he said.

Per the amendment, the tax would need to be approved by a separate statewide vote.

Another unknown factor in Colorado, as well as Oregon and Washington if similar initiatives pass there, is the response of the federal government. Possession, cultivation and consumption of marijuana remains prohibited by federal law.

"No modern country has removed the prohibitions on productions, distribution and possession of marijuana for non-medical purposes," Kilmer said. "It really will be breaking new ground."

Lifting prohibition would lower production costs and could be expected to deflate prices, Kilmer said, which could increase consumption. An important factor to consider, however, is how decriminalized marijuana use could affect heavy alcohol use, whether the drug becomes a substitute for or compliment with alcohol.

"There are all of these different studies out there about marijuana. But I think in terms of the big picture, you have to look at how this consumption influences consumption of other substances," he said.

Amendment 64 does not change existing state medical marijuana laws, which allow licensed Colorado residents to use medical marijuana.